the way home is all we have through greater for the equal rights of all. >> the same-sex marriage bill has been signed into law in maryland, but opponents say the fight is far from over. and school is for learning. one woman in anne arundel county hopes a crook will learn his lesson after robbing her.

what he did just ahead. and today get ready for some serious demolitions happening at hopkins plaza. how city leaders say this is going to improve the scenery and congestion. and when i knelt on my knees, i just asked god to see me through. >> an emotional morning at this week's deadly tornadoes. people are starting to assess the damage. the death toll has risen to 13 after a kansas woman died last night. the severe weather tuesday night and wednesday morning now back this morning. we have more on that. we're tracking every angle of that storm. >> good morning, maryland, i'm charley crowson, she is megan pringle. it's an important time to he radio mind people of tornado alley. it's offered at abc2news.com where you can see storm chasers live. >> exactly. it's so unfortunate to see pictures like that because they're going to do it all over for today. we already have some thunderstorms firing up across the area.

into missouri, you can see this cell right here. and then another line as we push down into south carolina, back across tennessee and also into kentucky, and we're just getting started. so, again, this is the morning. as we go into the afternoon, that warm, moist air is really going to start to fire things up. closer to home, though, we are dry right now. we'll start to see increasing clouds as we go throughout the day, maybe a shower by maybe 4:00, but the bigger line will roll in here as we go into 7:00 and then the showers and thunderstorms in the morning. late get a check of the traffic now with bill. good morning. reporter: good morning. there's no accidents, but one incident to report this morning. right off, though, it's looking good on the morning rush from hartford county, through the white marsh area, 95 northbound coming from anne arundel county looking good past 395 to the tolls. getting heavy on the beltway from 95 around route 40, starting to see a little bit of slowing there, but nothing unusual for a friday morning. and on the top side building but still flowing 95 through

towson. on the harrisburg expressway, pretty normal past cockiesville and. and on the jfx, no real problems if you head into downtown. 790 is your run, all clear from owens mills to the beltway. i did mention no accidents, but there is an incident. it's a water main break closing the left lane on southbound york road at steven assault and battery road. now back to you -- at stevenson road. maryland now the eighth state to legalize same-sex marriage. >> opponents are gearing up for the next chapter with this. abc 2 news' linda stow is standing by to explain what happens now. linda. reporter: megan, it looks like voters will have the final say, not the governor. oar poapts say they will -- opponents say they will send out a petition as soon as next week to collect the needed signatures to put the issue on the ballot. governor o'malley with lawmakers signed the bill into law last night. outside the statehouse supporters gathered to witness that historic signing. same-sex couples have a long way from walking down the

aisle. >> i have in my hand a pencil and it has an eraser on the end. they might as well have signed that bill in layad. reporter: the bill allows the first gay marriages to happen the beginning of next year. but if 1/3 of those signatures are collected by may 31st and the remaining by june 30th, it will go on the november ballot. a recent poll shows 49% of marylanders are in favor of same-sex marriage and 47% oppose it. linda stow, abc 2 news. an update now to a story we brought you yesterday on "good morning maryland," a woman says she was denied communion at her mother's funeral because she's a lesbian. now the arch diocese of washington has issued an apology. but barbara johnson says that's not enough. johnson's family wants the arch diocese wants to remove the reverend saying he provided her

mother with an indignified funeral mass. officers say suspects bought coke in baltimore city and then sold it in allatoona, post-season, in and around that area. partners say damian floyd is accused of being the ringleader. investigators say about five pounds of cocaine have been sold in a week and has a street value of about $2 million. news time now 6:05. we've learned this morning nearly 2000 people could have jobs in western maryland. the maryland petroleum council says western maryland could be home to more than 350 new natural gas wells. economists say the wells could bring in an estimated $440 million over a 30-year period. that proposal is still awaiting approval. anne arundel county police are trying to track down a man who robbed a woman outside of a chesapeake academy. that woman told police that she was walking towards the school's entrance on wednesday when the man grabbed her purse and knocked her to the ground. he jumped in a car and took off. police say that man was in the main office of the school before the robbery took place, asking for information about enrollment. anne arundel county police

would like to hear from you. you can reach them at 410-222- 6155 or you can always call metro crime stoppers at 866- lock-up or go to their website, metro crime stoppers.org. today according to the baltimore business journal, city workers will begin a $2 million demolition, all happening at the sky walk at hopkins plaza. it's part of the city wide plan to decrease the amount of people walking around. city officials say it'll also improve the landscaping. the project will take place on baltimore street between hopkins place and south charles and will last about six months. stay with us this morning because tensions are right now growing between the occupy protesters and the opposition. >> yeah. it's turned into simply name calling and shouting down in one u.s. city. the education protest that led to a fight. also ahead this morning, these brides have waited for weeks for their gowns. the tensions that erupted after one bridal store announced it is bankrupt. it is also freebie friday. the maryland mom who found 10 free deals for you and your

family. we'll take a look in just a bit after we get back from new york and a check of the latest tech bytes. reporter: in today's tech bytes, throttling smart phones after complaints that at & t is now defining exactly when it limits its unlimited data plans. it's when subscribers hit 3 gigabytes of usage a month. the fbi says cyber crimes is becoming the nation's top threat, even more than terrorism. you'll soon no longer have to go to facebook to play cityville and other games, it'll be available at zinga.com. you'll be able to continue a game started at one site right on the other. the light trail is a point-and- shoot camera that allows you to focus on a picture after you take it. sam of the "new york times" calls it amazing. >> the idea that you'll be able to take photos and then manipulate them after you've taken them, share those photos with people who can also manipulate them is pretty groundbreaking. reporter: it starts at $400. those are your tech bytes.

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residue that can redeposit on your dishware during the rinse cycle. gross. jet-dry rinse agent helps wash them away so the only thing left behind is the shine. jet-dry rinses away residues for a sparkling shine. . making ends meelt, so many of you tell us that your family is really trying these days. >> this morning we're helping you get on the road to financial freedom and abc 2 is working for you. >> josie shares some lessons from one family they learned and the advice they're now getting from financial planners. reporter: money wasn't an -- >> money was not an issue. reporter: that is until kim's husband lost his job in the home building industry. >> shock. you don't know what you're going to do. you're scared. reporter: within a year all their savings and 401(k) wiped out. >> you picture getting married and having this great life and not worrying about money and your kids are going to get a car when they're 16 and go off to college and that's not what

i've been given in this life. reporter: a life that went from owning a luxury 3500 square foot home to foreclosure to an 1100 square foot rental, a combined income of over $90,000 a year to just a fraction of that. kim can't cover hockey equipment for her son, her daughter won't be driving because they can't pay the extra insurance. >> i feel a lot stronger than those other kids. things aren't handed to me. reporter: kim's family tallied up over $20,000 in debt and turned to certified financial planner suze orman. orman's advice for the family, get spending under control. >> you have an income coming in. there's only one way to turn your situation around and that is spend less and/or earn more and spend less. reporter: orman recommends paying two to three times the minimum due on your credit card bills each month. you'll pay down debt faster, pay for things in cash as well and get as much pleasure out of savings as you do spending. and finally, live below your

means but within your needs. >> just because you can afford a new car this year, don't buy one. keep the car that you have for 10 years. reporter: orman also adds, don't get hooked by those debt consolidation companies. simple changes around the house can help you kick the spending habit. call your cable company and mobile provider, negotiate a lower bill, set a monthly budget and stick to it. and hold off on big ticket expenses. kim knows it will take years to reach financial freedom and balance for this family is key. >> slush fund or a little bit of fund money, even just one time to the movies can just take a little breather. reporter: josie sterman, abc 2 news. fans can come in all shapes and sizes. >> love this story. meteorologist lynette charles over here. turns out she has an 8-month- old fan who loves her voice so much. listen to this. >> good morning, i'm meteorologist lynette charles. for the most part it's morning, but the wind will start to push

it here. >> that little head was on a swivel. that was karen brown. she shot and sent in the video of her 8-month-old gorgeous little son mason. they watch abc 2 news every morning. thank you for watching. whenever mason hears lynette's voice, no matter what he's doing and we all know a baby has got a lot to do in the morning, he stops to watch her. >> he has stopped crying, playing, crawling and eating when she's on tv. >> apparently she even trumps barney and elmo. if you stop him from crying, maybe you should move in with that family. >> oh, just stop it. >> part-time job. >> karen, is, like, we won't take it that far, we just like the voice. >> we were talking about this before the show this morning. do they dvr the show and then when mason gets a little unruly and just -- >> sometimes they do that. i just want to do hi, mason. you're so cute. here's your weather report for today. let's talk about what's going on right now. the satellite and radar not

picking up on a whole lot in terms of clouds across our area. so that's why temperatures are really allowed to fall off this morning. remember, we had temperatures really soaring yesterday morning. but the soaring temperatures are down to the south and this basically tells the story. yes. we have that warm front that's going to be pushing in, already a line of showers and thunderstorms into kentucky all the way down into south carolina. that warm moist air really getting in there, going to fire up some more severe weather across that area for today. us, what are we going to do? well, we're going to start to see increasing clouds as we go into the afternoon, setting us up for that warm front to push through. around 7:00 there is a chance for some showers, maybe a rumble of thunder. but then that cold front will start to move into the area as we go into tomorrow morning, bringing us a better chance for some showers and also some thunderstorms in the forecast. this is what it looks like in terms of your sunday, definitely start to dry out and we will get colder. let's send it back over to you guys. there may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there's

certainly a free breakfast and megan has more on some of the other freebies in this edition of "freebie friday." i think we're talking home renovations, megan and pancakes. reporter: charley, listen, we're talking about everything. as you know there's nothing better than free food. so, of course, i'm going to mention that. you did say home improvement. that's one of the things i want to mention. if you go to abc2news.com and click on our home page, there's all sorts of information you'll find. there is a free samples section. you click on that, and once you do, you'll basically get all the deals this week, things that are being offered for free. you mentioned the home improvement. two different deals on free paint which is great if you want to try out a paint, one company giving away samples, the other from ace hardware giving away a quart of paint. so it's a good way to check it out. and free food, who doesn't like that. and annie ann's at the mall, we see them all the time. if you go to one from 10:00 to 3:00 tomorrow, they're giving away the original cinnamon sugar pretzel. it's a good way to try it out,

see if you like it. there's also free chocolate deals on there and free tours. go to abc2news.com. check it out and see if you can find something you like. again, charley, we do this every week, so there's always a little something for everybody. back to you. this is bozco. how are you doing, sir? this reminds my dog of skip and eddie from "fraser." tell us about this wonderful little man. this is bosco, 2 years old, jack russell mix. there are lots of jack russells who have been in tv shows, movies, in a best picture this year. >> the "the artist." >> they featured the dog. they're really great, they're really high energy. might not be the dog for everybody. >> might be great for a kid. >> kids are good, they're very loyal, they're very smart, they learn tricks very quickly. they can do some fun tricks, a lot of spinning. >> how old do we think boseco is? >> about two. >> he is available for adoption today? >> he is.

we're open from 12:00 to 5:00 and open on the weekend as well. >> you want to give a kiss? how do we find you if you want to know more about bosco or any of the other dogs up for adoption? >> you can go to our website and our number should be on the screen. >> this dog will not be unadopted for long. isn't he cute? >> he is absolutely adorable. go to the maryland spca. they're open on the weekends. thanks so much for coming in. the tsa is admitting one of its employees at a hawaii airport made a mistake when he told a breastfeeding mother she couldn't board with empty milk bottles. paula kawn has the details from hawaii. reporter: high school vice principal amy strand says as a new mother, she's used to travel being a little stressful. >> i've traveled before many times, i traveled for work and it's never been a problem before. reporter: but wednesday afternoon while going through airport security with her 9- month-old daughter, eva, she faced a problem she didn't

expect. >> i was going to in the line and they pulled me aside and asked if they could look in the breast pump and i said of course. reporter: it's what he said next that threw her. >> the tsa agent was not going to allow me to take my breast pump because there was no milk in the bottles. reporter: tsa recently changed its screening procedures to allow women to carry breast milk onto planes without testing it. breast pumps are treated as medical equipment that may or may not require additional screening. strand says the agent said without milk in the pump, she could not board. >> i asked him if there was a private place i could pump and he said, no, you can go in the women's bathroom. reporter: the only outlet for her electric pump was at the sink. >> i had to stand in front of the mirrors at the sink and pump my breasts in front of every tourist that walked in there. reporter: when the bottles were full, strand was allowed

to board and return home to maui. but her feelings of anger grew. >> i was embarrassed and humiliated, and then angry that i was treated this way. reporter: in a statement to kitv4 news, the tsa admitted they mistakenly told strand she could only bring the medical pack if medically necessary. >> the woman did get in touch with tsa officials yesterday who said that the agent involved will go through some sort of training and a memo will be sent to all the agents at the airport who have to deal with similar situations in the future. 20 minutes after 6:00 right now. a welcome end to three grueling days at sea for 1,000 passengers and crew members. what hundreds of cruise ship passengers had to endure for days while being stuck out on the ocean. also ahead this morning, this scene was not a vigil for

someone's death. the hundreds of tulips women receive inside support of the prime minister. we have details on that just ahead. we'll be right back. as we head to break this morning, we're going to take you live to atlanta this morning. they're already in the mid-60s. we'll find out what's in store for our weather when we come back and check in with lynette. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

news time 6:23 right now. our top stories this morning, two area universities will be joining forces. university of maryland baltimore and university of maryland college park will be attracting new research funding and creating jobs here in maryland. and a 70-year-old woman has been charged with having a gun in her carry-on luggage at bwi. maryland transit authority police say the gun was found wednesday around 9:00 when the woman went through security. jury deliberations will resume today for a mental hospital patient accused of strangling a fellow patient to death. the man is accused and charged with murder in the death of susan sax at clifton t. perkins hospital center. news around the world this morning, passengers aboard a cruise ship that was stuck at sea for three days now telling

just how bad it was. >> the costa allegra finally reached port yesterday morning after several harrowing days adrift at sea. the ship lost power after a fire on monday. passengers say temperatures rose to an unbearable 100 degrees inside their cabins. sewage backed up in toilets and many people slept outside on the deck. women in moscow in russia have been given tulips by supporters of vladimir putin for his presidential bid. they say it signifies the arrival of a new political season as well as spring itself. supporters presented 100,000 tulips, ensuring that each and every woman and girl passing through the metro station received a flower on the first day of spring. aid workers in syria have now been given permission by president assad's government to begin evacuation of the wounded, also delivering in supplies. the international red cross is heavily involved and that is the first time that country has allowed people in country to allow supplies since the civil war began a year ago. the garbage in mexico city is really beginning to pile up.

that's because the president closed down the landfill. mexico city's mayor planned to dump the garbage in the suburbs, but that, as you can imagine, was met with a large amount of opposition. allegations of sex abuse at penn state is -- >> we have new information this morning on those allegations of the abuse and where prosecutors are now saying that man, jerry sandusky, where he targeted at least eight kids. plus he works in a cemetery, one man may rethink about what he does for a living after nearly losing his life. as we head to break this morning, we'll take you live to new york city, a picture of the statue of liberty. we'll be right back.

four days after police say a teen shot and killed three students at a school, they're going to try to go back and get things as back to normal as possible. how sports is actually helping the grieving process. a valedictorian's dream to go into an ivy league school, now she's told she can't stay in the country. a protest about an hour away and this young girl's remarkable story. the girls' basketball playoff in aberdeen, what has everyone talking is what happened off the court between a man and a police officer. details on that just ahead. news time now 6:28. severe weather has left thousands across the midwest looking for a place to stay.

this is southwest missouri near the city of springfield. this is about 70 miles away from joplin, you remember that from may of 2011. death toll now from those tornadoes stands at 13. a woman in kansas died yesterday. this was last night. all of the news is straight ahead. we're tracking this weather, megan. >> we'll stay on top of it. we'll check in to lynette, in the meantime, as we say good morning to you, it's friday, thanks for joining us on this 2nd day of march, i'm megan pringle. >> i'm charley crowson. let's go to lynette. >> good morning, charley and megan. we are definitely tracking the severe weather. in missouri you can see a severe thunderstorm watch and that is that watch box right there. but the red that we're seeing, those are severe thunderstorm warnings across several counties and even pushing over into illinois at this time. we see another round of some showers and thunderstorms firing up into kentucky and actually some severe thunderstorm warnings expired there. and then there's some more down into tennessee. you can see that red there. that's another severe thunderstorm warning. so you get the picture this morning, definitely looking at some severe weather as we go